Man in custody killed trying to escape during officers’ search for explosives in woods

HARLAN
A man shot and killed during a confrontation with authorities Thursday night in Harlan County was previously accused of concealing explosives in trail cameras and putting them in the woods.

Mark Sawaf, 39, of Harlan had been indicted by a federal grand jury in July and was scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 13, according to court documents. He was ordered to remain in custody until trial and was indicted on eight charges, including owning and making unregistered destructive devices.

Lexington Fire Department investigator Capt. Brad Dobrzynski shot Sawaf during the altercation, which occurred after Sawaf tried to escape, state police said. ATF Special Agent Todd Tremaine and Lt. Matt Greathouse of the Lexington Police Department hazardous devices unit were also involved in the altercation that broke out on a hill above Woodland Hills subdivision about 6:50 p.m.

ATF had received information that Sawaf had placed more explosives in the woods and had gone with him to find them, Kentucky State Police Trooper Shane Jacobs said Friday. ATF asked Lexington police and fire officials for help because of “an expanded area” that needed to be searched and the scale of the operation, state police said. The state police hazardous devices unit was also asked to assist.

Sawaf died at the scene, according to state police and the Harlan County coroner’s office.

The group had found several trail cameras in the woods before the shooting, and bomb technicians searched the area Friday for more explosives, Jacobs said. Trail cameras are usually affixed to trees and are motion-activated to take photos of deer and other animals, but Sawaf allegedly had modified some with explosive material.

Apparently, Sawaf had a taste for hot blondes.

Although I have no information on Sawaf’s relationship to the blonde in the photos, she appears to be a wife or girlfriend. I’ve noticed that Middle Eastern males assimilate in the West to the extent of going after white women, especially blondes.